Ayane Yano
"I've always disliked and wanted to change myself. I was afraid and couldn't do it. I was cruel and couldn't do it. And I was dependent and couldn't do it. I don't want to depend on anyone anymore!" - Ayane to Kento Ayane Yano (矢野 あやね Yano Ayane) is a character in the series Kimi ni Todoke. She studied at Kitahoro High School and is one of Sawako Kuronuma's and Chizuru Yoshida's classmates and best friends. Currently she is attending Tokyo's J University. Appearance Ayane has shoulder-length auburn hair with a round, wavy cut. She is known to have a petite, but good-looking figure, attracting the attention of many males. She has doe eyes with accented eyelashes. thinly arched eyebrows, full lips, and a light skin tone. It has been noted that she looks nearly 10 years older than most high school girls. She is usually seen wearing the many different variations of the standard Kitahoro High School uniform, either the school's blue jacket or a cream-colored vest over a white shirt and red bow tie with a blue skirt. Her skirt is worn shorter like most other girls. When not at school, Ayane has a variety of clothing, but usually wears fashionable clothing. She also wears make-up and many ear piercings. Personality Ayane is one of the smartest characters in the series. A cool-headed tactician, she is easily able to decipher people's intentions and use that information to her advantage. On the other hand, she gives just enough information to leave enemies and friends alike wondering and thus, force them forward. Generally, she is known to be passionate and strong-willed, but also calculating and cold. To most people, she retains an aloof demeanor. Many of her classmates think of her as "mature", "on a different level" than most, and "cool". Some people, unfortunately, take her maturity along with her attractive looks in an unwanted sexual context. Ayane often gets irritated when people misunderstand her personality, such as when she was enraged when hearing false rumors that she was a slut who had 100 boyfriends. Though often in romantic relationships with older men, it is later revealed that she does not take many relationships seriously as a result of having a lack of trust for people, and is a very private, introverted person. When she first stepped into Kitahoro High, Ayane was a social recluse. She hated being around people, regardless of their gender. For girls, she found being around them taxing because they were only concerned with romances and easily forgot about her. Guys were also taxing to her because they only seemed concerned about themselves. Later on, she met Chizuru and Sawako, who both were outcasts in their own ways. Though initially not trusting Chizuru because of her extroverted personality and rather loud voice, Ayane was intrigued by the fact that she was able to be "just friends" with Ryu despite their genders and actually seemed to care about her as well. After defending her from being sexually harassed by guy classmates, Ayane began to warm up to her. As for Sawako, Ayane was afraid of her creepy demeanor, until Sawako directly approached her and Chizuru and confessed that she did not have any ghost powers and rather wanted to connect with the class. Slowly but surely, Sawako's innocent and straightforward personality began to grow on her. Ayane admits that the only people she has ever extended a hand to outside her immediate family are Sawako and Chizuru, her first friends who truly cared for and inspired her with their sincerity and courage. As she is fiercely loyal to them, she will not hesitate to fight for them when they are hurt, and often takes up the role of an unofficial "wise elder sister" when they come to her for relationship advice or advice in general. However, even with them, she does not confide her own worries or intimate details, preferring to not make them worry about her. This later leaves them wondering if they actually knew anything about Ayane at all. Unlike Sawako and Chizuru, Ayane has never actually fallen in love with someone, and she believes it is something she is incapable of doing due to her detached personality, which she hates. Though the majority of people see her as a self-assured. practical individual, Ayane actually suffers from shyness and a severe lack of self-esteem. Her mind is constantly turbulent with self-loathing thoughts. She thinks of herself as a cruel coward. She's afraid to take risks, try her best and be truly dedicated to something. The first and only person who is able to see past her "mature" facade is Pin (and to an extent, Kento). Often at odds with Pin, she initially does not respect him, seeing him as arrogant, childish, and untrustworthy. However, throughout the series, it is often him who advises and propels her to look towards her future. According to Pin, she is extremely smart, but still has much to learn. After realizing that Pin isn't shallow at all, Ayane begins to admire him as a teacher and individual, confiding with him and showing her vulnerable side. Though she may not look it, Ayane studies hard and keeps her grades up. Besides Sawako, she is the only high schooler out of the main cast who is smart enough be in Kitahoro's academic accelerated class. This is later revealed to because her dream is to go to the prestigious J University in Tokyo and later travel overseas, away from Japan. However, she is seen doubting her abilities to get in, and angrily placing the blame on others. It takes a while for Ayane to realize that she will never get anywhere if she doesn't take responsibility for her own actions. Afterwards, she pledges to become a better person and do her ultimate best to reach her goals as an independent woman. Chizu, Sawako, Pin, and Kento have told Ayane many times that she is actually very kind and selfless, though Ayane cannot bring herself to believe it until the very end. She is not very brave, rather timid, but her friends believe in her, and her potential to do great things. Relationships Chizuru Yoshida Chizuru was Ayane's first true friend. They are very close and build each other up in almost everything, be it sports or relationships, though do tease each other at times. First meeting in freshman year, before the start of the series, their relationship had a rocky start. Ayane did not trust Chizuru due to her "idiotic" voice, and Chizuru mistook Ayane to be a cold upperclassmen. Due to also coming from rival middle schools, they considered each other rivals. However, Chizuru did not want to have a bad relationship with Ayane, and tried to talk to her more positively, calling her by the nickname of "Yano-chin", introducing herself better, and asking for a handshake. Ayane, shocked because no one had ever directly asked that of her, realized that Chizuru was not intending to be mean to her, and hesitantly took it. Comically, this resulted in both jumping to the conclusion that they were in an arm wrestling match. Chizuru won every time, but she noted that Ayane did not easily give up and shared a similar quality with her: hating to lose. As they began spending more time together, Chizuru began talking about Ayane often to her other friends, Ryu and Kazehaya. Ayane also began taking more notice of Chizuru, puzzled over the fact that she could be "just" best friends with Ryu. One day, Ayane overheard some guy classmates sexually harassing her appearance. She was visibly agitated until Chizuru deflected the tension onto herself. Realizing that Chizuru had protected her, Ayane found herself shocked, but very happy. Later, Ayane thanked Chizuru for defending her. Generally disliking people for their selfishness, Ayane explained that she was surprised that Chizuru had done such a selfless act. Chizuru replied that it was because Ayane was the first girl who had tried to fight against her directly, and that she was glad to have met her. Giving Chizuru the nickname "Chizu", Ayane became best friends with her. Throughout the series, Ayane is seen explaining situations to the dense Chizuru, seen when she explained that Sawako and Kazehaya were in love with each other, and that Kurumi had been behind the awful rumors about them and Sawako. When Chizuru was troubled by her feelings for Toru despite him being engaged, Ayane had felt tremendous guilt for not being able to help, truly proving her feelings for Chizuru. Later on, Ayane also supports the mentally unstable Chizuru when her childhood friendship with Ryu dissolves. Ayane admires Chizuru for her sincerity, knowing she isn't afraid of fighting back even if she might face pain. Despite her idiocy, Ayane considers Chizuru to be a courageous person. Chizuru, on the other hand, admires Ayane for her kindness and indomitable spirit. However, Ayane tends to hide her vulnerable side from Chizuru, thinking that Chizuru overestimates her abilities. When Ayane eventually got into a relationship with Kento, Chizuru felt stupid for not noticing Ayane's mental state. The same scenario occurred when Ayane and Kento's relationship began to fall apart. It was only after Ayane had opened up about her insecurities did Chizuru clearly notice her mental state. Strongly opposing the idea of Ayane being a cruel or weak person, Chizuru refused to leave her friend and staunchly supported her. After graduation, Ayane acted distant towards Chizuru and Sawako and could not bring herself to tell that she was leaving the next day to Tokyo University. However, Chizuru and Sawako miraculously found her at the train station the next day. Scolding Ayane for continuously hiding her feelings and telling her to never treat her as a stranger, Chizuru gave her words of parting. Ayane began to cry, and before leaving on the train, told her to do her best whenever she was sad along with Sawako as words of parting. Karuho Shiina has stated that if Chizuru and Ayane were boy and girl, their relationship would probably be romantic instead. Sawako Kuronuma Sawako was Ayane's second closest friend. Upon meeting her in freshman year, Ayane's first impression of Sawako was that of a scary ghost. Thinking that Sawako was one of the types of people she definitely wouldn't get along with, Ayane originally kept herself at a distance from the girl like the rest of the class. On one fateful day, Ayane and Chizuru were jokingly suggesting that Sawako act as a ghost to scare fellow classmates for a "Courage Test" class event hosted by Kazehaya, when Sawako walked up to them and agreed to take on the role. When asked why, Sawako replied that she liked helping others and courageously admitted for the first time that she didn't actually have any supernatural powers. Ayane was at once blown away by her sincerity but social awkwardness, laughing hysterically at how weird the sticky situation that Sawako had been set up in was. A few days later, during class seating changes, all students were determined to avoid Sawako, for they thought she had supernatural powers and would make them sick. Sawako attempted to counter these rumors, but failed. Ayane was the only one who noticed. Ayane constantly supports Sawako with her relationships, and is aware of the mutual feelings between Sawako and Shouta. She is amazed like many others at the effort Sawako puts into things, Even before they truly became friends, she already really started to like Sawako, as she couldn't stop thinking about Sawako's feelings of sincerity. Together with Chizuru, she always protects Sawako if someone hurts her, as seen when the girls from Class-A bully her, or when she notices Kurumi's actions against Sawako. She is not afraid of hurting others back for hurting Sawako, but will hold her feelings back if Sawako asks her to, an example being when she threatened Kurumi she would tell Shota about the truth about the rumors. Sawako also influences Ayane in her love life. Sawako's innocence in love makes Ayane question her ways of being in relationships. When she notices how Sawako had tried so hard for her love with Shota, Ayane begins to become troubled over her relationship with Motoki, and cries over the fact that she is unable to love someone. Later, in Chapter 93, Sawako cries over Ayane's sadness and that she knows for sure Ayane is caring and kind, even if she doesn't realize it herself. Near the end of the series, Sawako thanks Ayane for everything she's done right before she leaves for Tokyo University, and that she will never forget her. Kazuichi Arai Ayane and Pin's relationship is one of the most significant of Ayane's relationships throughout her time in Kitahoro. At first, they did not get along well at all. Like a string of fate, they often met each other randomly and ended up arguing, especially on the road going home. However, watching them argue, many thought that they actually got along pretty well, and sometimes even better than with others. Ayane initially thought of Pin as an shallow, arrogant, childish man. She had no respect for Pin as a teacher, and often wondered how he managed to become one in the first place. For a while, their relationship consisted of petty squabbles. But during an incident where Ayane gave him sweets as a gift and accidentally confided with him about her insecurities, Pin assured that she was kind, shocking her. This suddenly hinted at a change in their relationship, and they learned more about one another. Afterwards, while there seemed to be no visible change in their bickering relations, there was an underlying change in Ayane as she unconsciously started to wonder what kind of person he was, even as lowly and sloppy as he seemed. Even in Pin, there was also a change, where he noted that Ayane was quite intelligent but contrary to how people see her, rather immature. Later when realizing that Ayane had never had a proper romantic relationship, Pin helped her and Kento, someone who genuinely cared about her, become a couple. Later he told Sawako that it was a Christmas gift to her. Nearing the beginning of her final year of high school, Ayane learned about Pin's past as a high school baseball prodigy, scouted by universities and professionals. However, he ended up turning them down and becoming a high school teacher. Ayane wondered why and theorized that he was also scared to take risks like her. However, Pin debunked this and explained that he chose to become a teacher because he found watching how students mature throughout their 3 years of high school interesting, and wanted to relive playing high school baseball again. Pin put forward a challenging question for Ayane highlighting her future career path: Has she ever tried to do her best in anything? This event drastically changed her perception of him. Throughout her senior year, Ayane struggles with what she wants to do when she graduates and it is ultimately Pin who drives and encourages her, personally believing in her potential to become a tremendously successful person. As they begin to spend more time together and he sheds his usual rambunctious image to seriously help Ayane, she realizes that he saw through her from the beginning. Ayane begins to admire him as a teacher and an individual, cherishing every piece of advice and encouragement he's ever given her. In the middle of her senior year, Ayane suddenly finds herself stammering and feeling self-conscious around Pin, as as well as thinking of him all the time. When it is put forth that he is still single and looking for a girlfriend, Ayane realizes that she has finally fallen in love for the first time with Pin. However, due to their nearly 10-year age gap and roles as teacher and student, Ayane believes that the chances that they will get together is 0% and after graduation, she will never see him again. As a result, Ayane attempts to ignore her feelings, but Sawako and Chizuru notice Ayane's odd change in behavior around Pin. Sawako eventually calls her out on her romantic feelings, forcing her to tearfully accept them. Later, in a chance encounter while walking road home together during Christmas, Ayane accidentally slips out a hint of her feelings for him. Pin takes the hint, but also does not know how to accept or face the possibility of her loving him. A little before the entrance exams into the University of Tokyo, Ayane nervously asks Pin to give her an eraser as a congratulatory present if she passes. Pin agrees. Through Ayane studies hard and later ends up passing with flying colors, she finds herself unable to tell her exam result to Pin along with the other students. This causes him to worry about her for the entire day. Despite knowing that he may reject her feelings and that they may never become a couple, with the help of Sawako, Chizuru, and remembering Pin's own inspiring words, Ayane musters the courage to finally tell her exam result and confess her feelings to Pin at his apartment on Valentine's Day. As expected, Pin gently rejects her confession as "10 years too early". However, just before she leaves, he gives her the eraser he promised. Reminiscing 2 years ago where she gave him sweets because he didn't have any, he praises her as a kind person. Applauding not only her academic efforts, but her growth as a person, Pin lets Ayane know that he believes in her future and encourages her to have have more self-confidence. Tearfully smiling, Ayane thanks Pin for everything he has done for her. Realizing that Pin has greatly influenced her as a person, Ayane wonders how she will be 10 years later, even without a love life, and aspires to become an adult that Pin won't be ashamed of. During her high school graduation, Ayane hopelessly ponders that they may never meet again, but Pin assures her that he will always support her no matter what. Just before parting ways, Ayane advises him to keep his hair up for the next 10 years. When Pin retorts that he would have anyway, Ayane laughs and explains that it's because he looks handsome with his hair down. It's heavily implied that she says this so that he does not get a girlfriend while she is gone and that they may very well meet again 10 years later. Shouta Kazehaya Her connection to Shota isn't the best. Not only does she hit him when there are problems between Sawako and him, she also likes making jokes about him to the annoyance of Shota. For example when he was giving Sawako 'free jasmine tea'. She is known for playfully teasing him with Chizuru on his feelings for Sawako. When Ayane offered to help Shota with his love life, he quickly rejected, and Ayane realized he was the type who didn't want any interference of that sort. Kento Miura Her relationship with Kento originally wasn't that good. She felt he was interfering in Sawako's and Shota's relationship, and had confronted him before about it. She yells at Kento at one point for making Sawako's and Shota's relationship more, and Ayane is one of the few people who knew Kento almost fell for Sawako. Later on, when they all go to the beach, Ayane comforts Kento who is still depressed about Sawako being with Shota. Later on, after breaking up with Motoki, she notices how she has never truly loved anyone, leading her to cry. Kento, who had noticed her before sitting alone, hugs her, asking Ayane why she won't tell him what's wrong. (She had been thinking in her head while she was crying, so Kento didn't really understand what was going on). She then later goes out with Kento in chapter 70. They share a fairly good relationship, but end up breaking up in chapter 95 when Ayane struggles with what she wants to do with the future. Ume Kurumizawa Ayane started off intently disliking Kurumi for being mean to Sawako, hiding her true nature behind a sweet facade, and being just as pretty as she herself. After Kurumi stopped concealing her real feelings, Ayane grew to respect Kurumi more. When Kurumi officially "lost" Kazehaya to Sawako, Ayane attempted to comfort her, making Kento note that she was a surprisingly kind person. When Kurumi returned later in the manga, both Sawako and Ayane began to spend more time with her and help her study for a teaching career, building a stronger friendship with her in the process. Quotes "If you decide not to do anything just because you're scared, things will stay this way forever." to Sawako "Regardless of who we are now, Sawako, at first we thought you were awkward too. But now, we've seen all the good and cute things about you. It's no stretch to say we love you. I think that's all thanks to your courage and efforts." "I'm always calculating. I'm fundamentally different from Chizu and Sawako. The only truly kind ones are Chizu and Sawako." - to Pin "Kento, you've had a lot of girlfriends, right? Have you ever actually liked someone before? People go out because they like each other. But I'm not like that. I've never liked anyone before, nor have I been with another person because of 'love'." - to Kento "I thought he asked me out because he cared, and I thought his affection would make me respond in kind. That's what I wanted." "So he was disappointed over expectations he never shared with me? Nice." - to Mogi's friends about Mogi "I won't confess. I never confess. It should be the guy's job to confess." - to Sawako "To tell you the truth, I don't cry that easily." - to Kento References Category:Characters Category:Female Character Category:Kitahoro High School Student